Friday, June 3, 2011

tools of the trade

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The older I get, the more grateful I am for the tools my life has provided. I imagine it's pretty much the same for everyone.

Specifically, I am thinking of Zen practice. I don't mean to do one of those underhanded proselytizing thingies where I imply (nudge-nudge-wink-wink) that Zen Buddhism is for everyone and will solve all ills. I just mean that the lessons I have found in it strike me as sound ... for me.

What brought this to mind was a recollection of sesshin, an intensive retreat at which people sit still and straight and silent for extended periods of time. Sesshin carries with it unspeakable horrors and delights and yet its lessons and implications ripple outward. It is, or has been as I look back on it, a wonderful tool for addressing the aches and pains, mental and physical, that can come along. It doesn't 'solve' anything. It doesn't get you out of the inescapable shit that life can dish up. It's just a tool and a very good tool at that.

I guess everyone finds some similar tools as they go along ... functioning ways to address what is serious. Something that makes them stronger when the weak points assert their power. Sesshin -- sit down, shut up and take a look ... and keep taking a look. It's not pleasant or blissful. It's just sensible and useful for my money. And it makes me smile....

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My name is Adam Fisher. I live in Northampton, Mass., U.S.A. I have a wife and three children. This is my blog and consists of almost-daily postings -- sometimes (older) about the Zen Buddhism I have admired and practiced for something short of 50 years; sometimes about other 'spiritual' matters; and (more recently) about whatever strikes my fancy. Except to the extent that it might help others to consider what sort of fool they might prefer not to be, this blog does not aim to help anyone. Writing is an old and diminishing habit. It's what I do. Once upon a time, I built a zendo/meditation hall in the backyard here and invited people to come. The zendo is still there and my Dharma name is still "Genkaku" ("original realization" or "original understanding") but these days the formality of meditation has drained. Black Moon Zendo is still a good zendo, but I am 77 in 2017 ... creaky and disinclined. I honor those who make courageous journeys, but am hoist by my own observation that "Just because you are indispensable to the universe does not mean the universe needs your help." Best wishes to all. I can be contacted at genkakukigen@aol.com